By Scott DiSavino
U.S. natural gas futures jumped about 4% on Friday to a six-month high, on near-record flows to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants, as output dropped and forecasters expected more demand over the next two weeks than they did previously.
Front-month gas futures for December delivery 
NG1! on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 16.8 cents, or 4.2%, to $4.124 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), their highest close since April 3. For the first time in four weeks, the contract remained technically overbought for a second straight day.
For the week, the front-month was up about 25%, its biggest weekly percentage gain since a record of around 33% in May 2024. Last week, the contract rose 10%.
For the month, the contract was up about 25%, its biggest monthly percentage gain since February. It gained 10% last month.
Crude futures have dropped 12% 
CL1! over the past three months, so the oil-to-gas ratio, the level where oil trades compared with gas, narrowed to 15-to-1, its lowest since December 2022. On an energy equivalent basis, oil should only trade six times over gas.
So far in 2025, crude prices have averaged about 19 times over gas, down from 33 times over gas in 2024 and 21 times over gas during the prior five years (2019-2023).
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 states fell to 107.0 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in October, down from 107.5 bcfd in September and a record monthly high of 108.0 bcfd in August.
Record output earlier this year allowed energy companies to inject more gas into storage than usual. There is about 4% more gas in storage than normal for this time of year.
Meteorologists forecast temperatures across the country will remain mostly warmer than normal through November 15, which should limit heating demand.
LSEG projected average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would hold around 108.9 bcfd this week and next before rising to 109.8 bcfd in two weeks. The forecasts for this week and next were higher than LSEG’s outlook on Thursday.
The average amount of gas flowing to the eight big U.S. LNG export plants rose to 16.6 bcfd so far in October from 15.7 bcfd in September and surpassing the monthly record high of 16.0 bcfd in April.
On a daily basis, LNG feedgas was on track to rise to 17.9 bcfd on Friday, which would top the current record of 17.3 bcfd on October 25.
Week ended Oct 31 Actual
Week ended Oct 24 Actual
Year ago Oct 31
Five-year average Oct 31
U.S. weekly natgas storage change (bcf):
+37
+74
+68
+42
U.S. total natgas in storage (bcf):
3,919
3,882
3,921
3,753
U.S. total storage versus 5-year average
+4.4%
+4.6%
Global Gas Benchmark Futures ($ per mmBtu)
Current Day
Prior Day
This Month Last Year
Prior Year Average 2024
Five-Year Average (2019-2023)
Henry Hub NG1!
4.08
3.96
2.58
2.41
3.52
Title Transfer Facility (TTF) (TRNLTTFMc1)
10.48
10.54
12.89
10.95
15.47
Japan-Korea Marker (JKM) (JKMc1)
11.22
11.15
13.35
11.89
15.23
LSEG Heating (HDD), Cooling (CDD) and Total (TDD) Degree Days
Two-Week Total Forecast
Current Day
Prior Day
Prior Year
10-Year Norm
30-Year Norm
U.S. Global Forecast System (GFS) HDDs
200
202
134
212
231
U.S. GFS CDDs
18
17
49
23
16
U.S. GFS TDDs
218
219
183
235
247
LSEG U.S. Weekly GFS Supply and Demand Forecasts
Prior Week
Current Week
Next Week
This Week Last Year
Five-Year (2020-2024) Average For Month
U.S. Supply (bcfd)
U.S. Lower 48 Dry Production
107.0
107.6
107.4
102.8
98.1
U.S. Imports from Canada
7.5
7.7
7.4
N/A
7.4
U.S. LNG Imports
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
Total U.S. Supply
114.5
115.2
114.8
N/A
105.5
U.S. Demand (bcfd)
U.S. Exports to Canada
2.1
2.2
2.3
N/A
2.2
U.S. Exports to Mexico
6.7
6.4
6.5
N/A
6.1
U.S. LNG Export Feedgas
16.9
16.8
17.9
13.1
11.3
U.S. Commercial
6.8
8.6
9.2
7.3
6.9
U.S. Residential
7.7
11.4
12.5
9.1
7.1
U.S. Power Plant
31.5
32.3
29.5
34.0
31.7
U.S. Industrial
22.8
23.4
23.5
22.6
22.4
U.S. Plant Fuel
5.3
5.3
5.3
5.3
5.2
U.S. Pipe Distribution
2.0
2.2
2.2
2.0
2.8
U.S. Vehicle Fuel
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.2
Total U.S. Consumption
76.2
83.4
82.3
80.4
76.3
Total U.S. Demand
101.9
108.8
109.0
N/A
95.9
N/A = Not Available
U.S. Northwest River Forecast Center (NWRFC) at The Dalles Dam (Fiscal year ending Sep 30)
2026 Current Day % of Normal Forecast
2026 Prior Day % of Normal Forecast
2025 % of Normal Actual
2024
% of Normal Actual
2023
% of Normal Actual
Apr-Sep
94
93
76
74
83
Jan-Jul
90
89
78
76
77
Oct-Sep
91
89
80
77
76
U.S. weekly power generation percent by fuel – EIA
Week ended Oct 24
Week ended Oct 17
2024
2023
2022
Wind
12
14
11
10
11
Solar
6
7
5
4
3
Hydro
5
5
6
6
6
Other
1
1
1
2
2
Petroleum
0
0
0
0
0
Natural Gas
41
40
42
41
38
Coal
16
15
16
17
21
Nuclear
19
18
19
19
19
SNL U.S. Natural Gas Next-Day Prices ($ per mmBtu)
Hub
Current Day
Prior Day
This Month Last Year
Prior Year Average 2024
Five-Year Average (2019-2023)
Henry Hub (NG-W-HH-SNL)
3.46
3.36
2.19
2.19
3.49
Transco Z6 New York (NG-CG-NY-SNL)
3.15
2.99
1.64
1.98
3.29
PG&E Citygate (NG-CG-PGE-SNL)
3.72
3.79
3.72
3.04
5.47
Eastern Gas (old Dominion South) (NG-PCN-APP-SNL)
3.01
2.78
1.53
1.68
2.77
Chicago Citygate (NG-CG-CH-SNL)
3.28
3.12
2.01
2.00
3.41
Algonquin Citygate (NG-CG-BS-SNL)
3.32
3.22
1.80
2.88
4.27
SoCal Citygate (NG-SCL-CGT-SNL)
3.63
3.63
2.60
2.47
5.92
Waha Hub (NG-WAH-WTX-SNL)
1.00
0.64
0.59
0.77
2.91
AECO (NG-ASH-ALB-SNL)
1.30
1.31
0.77
0.96
2.28
ICE U.S. Power Next-Day Prices ($ per megawatt-hour)
Hub
Current Day
Prior Day
This Month Last Year
Prior Year Average 2024
Five-Year Average (2019-2023)
New England (E-NEPLMHP-IDX)
44.73
52.90
40.14
47.35
48.44
PJM West (E-PJWHRTP-IX)
56.07
64.16
41.96
41.98
45.33
Mid C (W-MIDCP-IDX)
46.59
46.59
55.48
63.89
61.73
Palo Verde (W-PVP-IDX)
34.58
34.58
45.83
39.50
62.42
SP-15 (W-SP15-IDX)
35.57
35.57
35.86
31.30
58.87